Summer League Recap 2: Averting the Blair Freakout

A game after rookie DeJuan Blair showcased his rebounding freakishness in his summer-league debut, the Spurs opted to sit him in Tuesday’s 78-76 victory over Denver. The official rationale: The Spurs already know what Blair can do. They wanted to see more from other bigs, like Ian Mahinmi and James Gist.

The Spurs also wanted to see how Blair’s knees — which are famously without ACLs — responded to his first summer league game before playing him in his second. Blair logged a 13-point, 10-rebound double-double in Sunday’s win over New Orleans.

“We were going to sit him tonight anyway, so we figured why push it?” Spurs general manager R.C. Buford said. “We wanted to rotate some guys.”

Buford said he did not know if Blair would play Thursday against Oklahoma City.

Rumors abound that Blair, a second-round pick out of Pittsburgh, was held for contractual reasons. As in, he doesn’t have one, and doesn’t want to risk injury until he does.

Unlike with first-round picks, Blair’s contractual terms are not locked in by the league’s collective bargaining agreement. As such, he is allowed to negotiate any asking price he wants.

Blair, for his part, says he doesn’t expect his contract to be an issue going forward.

“I’m going to be a Spur,” Blair said. “They picked me. I’m just negotiating my contract right now. I plan on being a Spur for a long time.”

Other thoughts from Game 2 …

• A big-time bounce-back from Ian Mahinmi. After a rather rough summer-league debut against New Orleans, Mahinmi logged 12 points and 16 rebounds against Denver, and was active on both ends of the court. Now, about those 10 (10!) fouls …

• A second solid outing from both George Hill and Malik Hairston. Hairston led the team with 17 points, and continued to flash the improved, all-around offensive game that gives him a chance to make the Spurs’ regular roster. Hill, meanwhile, finished with 16 points on 5-of-12 shooting. More impressive for Hill, for the second-straight game, he had the ball in his hands down the stretch of a close game and handled the pressure well.

• Ty Lawson, Denver’s speedy rookie, finished 0-for-7 from the field. Credit for that also goes to Hill, who was most often assigned to guard him.

• A second-straight unimpressive outing from Jack McClinton, the Spurs’ other second-round pick. He was 0-for-2 again, still looking for his first summer-league field goal. McClinton was limited to just 10 minutes of action Tuesday, as the Spurs flanked Hill and Hairston with Romel Beck down the stretch.